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Reviews
L'inconnu du lac (2013)
A rather flimsy film beautifully shot
I can't understand why Stranger by the Lake has received such praise. There is no doubt that it is a visual and aural treat but the central premise is rather flimsy. While the tension gathers pace somewhat towards the end it is little reward for what to that point labours the point about the shallow nature of the cruising scene and provides the viewer with little substance to really care about the victim, the protagonist, the murderer or the frequenters of the lake. The introduction of the inspector brings with it an alternative (or mainstream) moral entity but again the point about a fish out of water is hammered home with almost comic force and it's really rather difficult to take his pronouncements seriously. The lack of human subtlety in Stranger by the Lake is made up in part by the subtlety of nature. Go see it for its aesthetics, that's if you can ignore the insubstantial plot and characterisation.
The Black Dahlia (2006)
A parody of noir
The Black Dahlia doesn't know if it is a homage to noir or a parody, either would have been preferable. One can neither snigger at its knowingness nor lose oneself in nostalgia. This lack of coherence is exacerbated by an unnecessarily convoluted plot and Bucky's incomprehensible narration, which is delivered an octave lower than the character's dialogue, why? In addition to this confusion the performances are at times quite frankly embarrassing. Scarlett Johansson's Lana Turner-esquire vamp is vacant, Hilary Swank's femme fatale is fatal, and Josh Hartnett is not so much the emotionally contained noiresque anti-hero as emotionally illiterate. Fiona Shaw, however, is excellent as the drug crazed matriarch - the one highlight of the film. It is, however, as if she's walked onto the set from another, much more entertaining film, as her performance has no part in The Black Dahlia.
De Palma's use of violence is gratuitous and misogynistic. The visual brutality of the violence, in a film with such little substance, stands out as just that and at points the film seems to resemble a 1940s slasher movie - a novel concept if the director had stuck with it! The overwhelming feeling at the end of the film is not who killed the chick, but who cares?
Volver (2006)
Stellar effort
I went into Volver with incredible anticipation. Almodovar has never let me down...until now. It's a good film. Polished, visually vibrant, made by a director who knows how film really works. Ultimately I think this is why the film failed - it is too studied, it lacked Almodovar's usual passion, it was nonetheless a good film. But there are lots of good films out there that make a good night out, what distinguished Almodovar before Volver is that he always managed to enrapture rather than merely entertain.
That being said, the leading actresses are superb. Almodovar's modelling of Cruz on Claudia Cardinale is spot on - Cruz should only ever act in Spanish. Great to see the return of Carmen Maura, in a film appropriately titled! A great ensemble of actresses, all the more disappointing that the film as a whole fell short of Almodovar's standards, but then in the words of another great melodramatic character, "Why ask for the moon when we have the stars!", and Almodovar definitely reaches stellar heights but falls short of his normal heavenly standards.